Keeping Quiet Summary In English

The poet wants us to keep still till he counts upto twelve. For once, let us not talk
in any language on this earth. He asks us to stop moving our arms so much for
one second.

Let there be no rush or hurry for a second. Engines and other machines must
stop for a moment. That moment will be a fascinating moment for all of us. Then
all of us shall enjoy the sudden strangeness of the moment together.

The poet wants that the fishermen would not harm the whales in the cold sea of
polar regions. Even the man gathering salt with his own hands must take care of
his hurt hands.

All kinds of wars must be stopped at once. The green wars against the
environment, wars with poisonous gases and wars with fire-arms must be
stopped now. In such wars, victory is meaningless as there are no survivors left
after the war. Instead of fighting and waging wars, people should come out in
their best dresses. They must go out for a walk with their brothers. They must
move about under the shady trees and enjoy doing nothing.

The poet does not want that we should confuse ‘stillness’ with ‘total inactivity.
Doing nothing at all would amount to death. The poet has no association with
death. We think that life is to move about. We should not be always on the move.
For a while we should also take rest. A long silence can do us a lot of good. Men
become sad when they fail to understand themselves. They feel helpless when
they threaten themselves with death. A long silence can soothe our feelings and
help us in removing this sadness.
The poet gives an example to illustrate the idea that ‘stillness’ does not mean
total inactivity’. The earth can teach us a lesson. When everything seems dead,
the earth remains alive.

The poet asks us to keep quiet till he counts twelve. Then he will go.

Question 1.

In the poem ‘Keeping Quiet’, what is the appeal made by the poet?

Answer:

The poet appeals the people to keep quiet for a short time. This would
help them take stock of their mindless activities and conduct
self-analysis. All this will help save mankind from its imminent doom.

Question 2.

“Under the apparent stillness there is life.” Justify this statement giving
an example from the poem, ‘Keeping Quiet’.

Answer:

The poet says that just as there will be life below the snow once it melts,
similarly, there will be life even in the apparent stillness.

Question 3.

What are the different kinds of wars mentioned in the poem? What is
Neruda’s attitude towards these wars?

Answer:

Green wars – cutting the trees, war with environment; war with
gas—chemical or nuclear; war with fire, and war with ammunition. Every
type of war is useless and must be given up. Whenever there is victory
after a war, there are no survivors. War is only destructive.

Question 4.

When everything seems dead, what remains alive?

Answer:

When everything seems dead, only the earth remains alive.

Question 5.

What is ‘the fisherman’ symbolic of?

Answer:

The fisherman symbolises man’s indiscriminate exploitation of nature

for his vested interests.

Question 6.

How can suspension of activities help?

Answer:

The poet believes that suspension of activities will allow men to

introspect, which can help them by solving many of the problems based
on caste, religion and nationality.

Question 7.

According to the poet, what is that human beings can learn from nature?
Answer:

Life under apparent stillness in attitude is important. Just like nature

carries on its work even when there is stillness all around, similarly,
stillness in attitude will help in retrospection.

Question 8.

‘Life is what it is all about; How is keeping quiet related to life?

Answer:

Keeping quiet helps people pursue their goals single-mindedly. They

need to understand that silence is productive and stillness is progress.

Question 9.

Why does one feel ‘a sudden strangeness’ on counting to twelve and

keeping quiet?

Answer:

The absence of hustle and bustle of life would create feeling of peace
and quietness, which would make us united in our natural commitment.
It will create a strange feeling of universal brotherhood.

Question 10.

How will ‘keeping quiet’ protect our environment?

Answer:
Keeping quiet will stop man’s indiscriminate exploitation of nature for
his vested interests. In this moment of inactivity, fishermen will not harm
the whales.

Question 11.

How would keeping quiet affect life in and around the sea?

Answer:

Keeping quiet will prevent sea life from being harmed and the person
collecting salt would look at his hurt hands. It will thus, help in
maintaining an ecological balance and give everyone some time to
introspect.

Question 12.

How is the earth a source of life when all seems dead on it?

Answer:

The seeds that lie dormant throughout winter germinate or spring to life
with the arrival of spring. It appears as if nature is celebrating life.

Question 13.

According to Pablo Neruda, how would keeping quiet be an exotic

moment?

Answer:

According to Pablo Neruda, when everything comes to a standstill, it

would be a rare moment. No one would rush, no engines running. No
one would harm any other organism. All would be calm and quiet
reflecting upon their lives and introspecting.

Question 14.

What are green wars? Who wage them and with what result?

Answer:

Green wars mean war against environment or environmental

degradation. It is waged by the people who exploit the nature for
commercial use and the soldiers. It results in damage to the
environment and ultimately harming humans.

Question 15.

According to Pablo Neruda, what do we not do when we keep quiet?

Answer:

When we keep quiet, we will not be in any rush, the people will not harm
any other living organisms and will not harm the environment. When we
keep quiet, we will not do anything.

Keeping Quiet Extra Questions and Answers Short

Answer Type
Question 1.

Write in brief the summary of the poem.

Answer:
The poet wants everyone to count up to twelve in their mind. He wants
every one of us to be calm and still. The poet wants that one should not
talk in any language. He means to say that every person of the world
should be quiet for few seconds. There would not be any rush. There
would not be the jarring sounds of machines. The poet wants that the
fishermen should not hunt whales in the sea. He also wants that the
persons who gather salt should suspend their activities for a few
seconds.

The poet says that the people who destroy forests also wage a war
against their own coming generations. There are wars with fire, chemical
weapons and poisonous gases. The was bring so much destruction that
no side could be called victorious. The poet knows that the soldiers
have to follow the orders. He implores them to leave the army and
instead of uniforms wear clean clothes. They should walk with their
civilian brothers and suspend their all war-related activities and walk
idly under the shade.

The poet wants that we should not be self-centred. The poet says that
the people are rushing to complete their tasks. But he says that by
keeping quiet for a few seconds, they can understand the true purpose
of life. The poet wants that we should not be self-centred. The poet says
that the people are rushing to complete their tasks. The poet says that
by keeping quiet for a few seconds they can understand the true
purpose of life. The poet says that the earth can provide us all type of
guidance.

He says that it appears dead and lifeless in winter. But when the summer
season comes everything again comes to life. Similarly, after taking a
short pause we can restart our activities in a new way. Therefore, the
poet asks the people to take a pause, count to twelve and walks out of
the scene.

Question 2.
Write the central idea of the poem.

Answer:

In this poem, the poet tells us about the value of quiet introspection. He
wants us to keep quiet for twelve seconds and stop every movement of
the body. He implores the fishermen not to harm the whales. He also
wants the man gathering salt to stop his activities for a few minutes,
since he has hurt his hands. The poet says that wars are useless. These
wars leave no survivors. However the poet doesn’t advocate total
inactivity. He says that something that appears to be dead now later
proves to be alive. Total inactivity is death, the poet just wants us to
suspend our activities for a few seconds.

Question 3.
What are the different types of wars mentioned in the poem?
Or
What is Neruda’s attitude towards these wars?
Answer:
The poet says that there are green wars. He means t to say that the
people who destroy forests also wage a war against their own coming
generations. There are wars with fire, chemical weapons and poisonous
gases. The wars bring so much destruction that no side could be called
victorious. The poet wants that all these wars should be stopped. These
wars bring nothing but destruction.